This application claims the benefit of Taiwan application Serial No. 091103878, filed Mar. 1, 2002.
1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates in general to a hinge mechanism, and more particularly to a hinge mechanism with a release button by using spring elasticity.
2. Description of the Related Art
Cellular phones have come into general use with the close communication and the frequent need to exchange data and thus have become indispensable tools for modern people due to the features of compactness, portability, and convenience.
Referring to FIG. 1, an exploded view of a flip phone is shown. The flip phone 100 includes a housing 102 and a flip 104. The housing 102 includes a display section 103, an operation section 105, buttons 106, and a liquid crystal display (LCD) 108. The display section 103 is situated higher than the operation section 105. The buttons 106 are disposed on the operation section 105 and are used as the method of input. LCD 108 is positioned on the display section 103 and is used for display.
The flip 104 has a sleeve 110 connected with one end of the flip 104. The shafts 112a and 112b are disposed at two ends of the sleeve 110 respectively. The housing 102 has a sunken part 114, which includes two holes 116a and 116b for receiving two shafts 112a and 112b respectively at opposite sides of the sunken part 114. When assembling the flip 104 to the housing 102, the sleeve 110 is installed in the sunken part 114 along the direction of the arrow sign 150 in FIG. 1, and then the shafts 112a and 112b are installed in the respective holes 116a and 116b for the rotation of the flip 104.
In general, the sleeve 110, the shafts 112a and 112b, the sunken part 114, and the holes 116a and 116b are called a hinge mechanism, which pivots the flip 104 on the housing 102. Since the housing 102, the sunken part 114, and the holes 116a and 116b are formed as an unit and the flip 104, the sleeve 110, and the shafts 112a and 112b are formed as an unit as well, it requires a strenuous effort to assemble and disassemble the flip phone 100. The sleeve 110 and the sunken part 114 are easily damaged in the attempt to separate the flip 104 from the housing 102 due to the tight configuration of the hinge mechanism, while the flip phone 100 requires repairing. Additionally, all components of the hinge mechanism would have to be discarded along with the damaged flip 104 and housing 102, which is a costly waste.
It is therefore an object of the invention to provide a hinge mechanism applied to a foldable device for easy assembly and disassembly. The hinge mechanism pivots a flip on a housing and prevents the flip and the housing from being damaged during the assembly or disassembly of the foldable device. In addition, it makes the foldable device easy to operate and convenient to use for a one-handed operation.
The invention achieves the above-identified objects by providing a hinge mechanism, for pivotally connecting a flip onto a housing so that the flip is rotatable around a pivoting axis. The hinge mechanism includes a bush, a compression spring, and a release button. The bush has a sidewall, a protrusion, and a receiving space defined by the sidewall. The protrusion is protruded from the sidewall. The release button has a first end, a second end, and a shaped notch. The shaped notch has a concave portion, a stop portion, and a convex portion formed between the concave portion and the stop portion. The stop portion extends substantially parallel to the pivoting axis. The protrusion is slidably received within the shaped notch. The first end of the release button is slidably coupled to the bush, and the second end of the release button is restrictedly coupled to the housing, so that the release button is only slidable relative to the housing substantially along the pivoting axis. The compression spring is disposed within the receiving space and pressed by the release button and the bush. When the flip pivots from the opened position to the closed position, the bush simultaneously rotates around the pivoting axis so that the protrusion moves from the concave portion to the stop portion. Only when the release button is moved toward the bush till the protrusion moves out of the stop portion and reaches the convex portion, the flip is capable to pivot from the closed position to the opened position.
Other objects, features, and advantages of the invention will become apparent from the following detailed description of the preferred but non-limiting embodiments. The following description is made with reference to the accompanying drawings.